For over 1,000 years, the mbira instrument and its repertoire of complex and beautiful classic songs have been used in Zimbabwe to call family ancestors and powerful tribal guardian spirits to earth to help the living, in night-long to week-long ceremonies. Every time the mbira is played, it is considered a prayer to the ancestors, which will gain their protection. Leonard Chiyanike & Erica Azim will introduce the Shona mbira tradition, and perform ancient songs, playing two interlocking parts. There is much more information about the mbira tradition at http://www.mbira.org.

Master musician Leonard Chiyanike comes from a family of traditional Zimbabwean mbira players, and has played mbira since 1964. A quiet and humble man, it falls to others to explain what an outstanding mbira player he is, and beautiful singer. Chiyanike began making mbiras in 1975, and is considered in the international community to be one of the greatest mbira makers alive today. Because Chiyanike grew up living in various parts of Zimbabwe, he is fluent in the mbira styles and tunings of many regions of the country. This is Chiyanike's first U.S. tour. He is joined by Berkeley's Erica Azim, who has played mbira since the 1970's and founded the non-profit organization MBIRA (www.mbira.org) to support the mbira tradition in Zimbabwe, and make the music available worldwide.

Free with MoAD Admission.

Saturday Morning Cartoons at MoAD brings young children and their families together for a morning of creativity, fun, and critical thinking. Together we will watch an episode of the HBO series Happily Ever After – Fairytales for Every Child followed by a facilitated conversation with an Education Department staff person. We will conclude with a literacy-building art and journal activity.

Saturday Morning Cartoons at MoAD occurs the third Saturday of every month. Free with MoAD Admission.

Would you give up your freedom to change the course of history? Thanks to the film Glory, the contributions that black soldiers made during the Civil War have become well known. Join us for a program that offers insights into the amazing, long-forgotten role one African American woman played in the war that ended a slavery, a role that took her into the very heart of the Confederacy. Born into slavery in Richmond, Virginia, Mary Bowser was freed and sent North to be educated. But she made the extraordinary choice to return to Richmond, where she became a spy for the Union--by posing as a slave in the Confederate White House. Author and former college professor Lois Leveen will share new research about Bowser's remarkable role in American history. Our discussion will reflect on what Bowser's experience reveals about urban slavery in industrialized Richmond, the vibrant free black community in antebellum Philadelphia, and the sometimes contentious relationships among black and white abolitionists.

Author Lois Leveen earned degrees in history and literature from Harvard University, the University of Southern California, and UCLA. She was finishing her Ph.D. in African American literature when she first learned about Mary Bowser’s real-life achievements. To craft Bowser's story, Leveen drew on her wide knowledge of slave narratives and literature by free blacks, while also undertaking extensive new research on the Civil War. A former faculty member at UCLA and Reed College, Leveen gives talks nationally and internationally on American history, literature, and culture, with special emphasis on race. She is a regular contributor to “Disunion,” the New York Times’ ongoing coverage of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, and her work has appeared in many publications and on National Public Radio.

Free with MoAD Admission.